SPAIN'S VIEWS IN ADVANCE OF MARCH 16 FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001000

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015
TAGS: ETTC PREL PTER HR CH LE KPAL SU RS GG SP EUN
SUBJECT: SPAIN'S VIEWS IN ADVANCE OF MARCH 16 FOREIGN
AFFAIRS MEETING

REF: A. STATE 39909

B. MADRID 987

C. MADRID 988

D. MADRID 992

Classified By: Political Officer Ricardo Zuniga for Reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. Poloff discussed the China arms embargo,
Croatia, Human Rights in Belarus and Cuba, the Middle East
Peace Process, Hamas, Lebanon, Sudan, Moldova, and Georgia
with the MFA's Head of EU Policy Planning Enrique Mora
Benavente on March 10 and March 14. Spain's position
regarding lifting the China arms embargo remains unchanged in
favor of the EU decision to lift the embargo. Most EU states
believe Croatia has not met all required conditions to enter
EU accession talks. Spain will likely support the U.S. on
human rights resolutions concerning Belarus and Cuba. The
March 1 London meeting concerning Palestine was a success.
The GOS does not support designating Hizballah as a terrorist
organization. The GOS will not support removing Hamas from
the terrorist list any time soon, but they acknowledge that
the EU and Spain will have to work with Hamas as they become
a political force in the democratic process in Palestine.
There will be no action on Sudan at the Foreign Ministers
meeting on March 16. The EU is ready to cooperate with the
new Moldovan government and believes that the elections were
generally fair. The EU is currently looking at three
proposals for a Border Monitoring Organization (BMO) in
Georgia. END SUMMARY

//CHINA ARMS EMBARGO//


2. (C) Spain's position regarding lifting the China arms
embargo remains unchanged. Mora Benavente hoped that the
current trip to the U.S., Japan, and Australia of the
delegation led by Annalisa Gianella, High Representative
Solana's Special Representative for Nonproliferation Issues,
would help explain the European position regarding the China
arms embargo. Representatives of the six European arms
manufacturing nations that signed the 1998 Letter of Intent
(Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and
Spain) are accompanying Gianella on the trip. Spain's
representative will be Marcos Rodriguez Cantero, the Deputy
Director General for Disarmament at the MFA. Mora Benavente
said that the delegation is aware that they will not change
minds in the U.S., but he hopes that members of Congress and
other USG members will understand better how the code of
Conduct and the "toolbox" of measures to exchange information
on weapons sales will help regulate arms sales (Ref A).

//CROATIA//


3. (C) Most EU states believe that Croatia has not met all
required conditions to enter EU accession talks. Mora
Benavente said that there is a 90 percent chance that there
will be some sort of statement March 16 that will address the
postponement of EU accession talks for Croatia.

//HUMAN RIGHTS//


4. (C) Mora Benavente said he was not an expert on the UN
Commission on Human Rights, but he thinks that Spain will
continue to support the co-tabling and the lobbying of human
rights resolutions concerning Belarus. Mora Benavente did
not have specific information on the resolution regarding
Cuba, but he did note that the Cuban Foreign Minister would
be visiting Spain this week. (NOTE: Spain has always
supported U.S. resolutions regarding Belarus. Post is
polling GOS sources separately on the issue of the Cuba
resolution.)

//MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS//


5. (C) The March 1 London meeting concerning Palestine was
a success in Spain's view, and EU representatives had a good
discussion with Lieutenant General Ward. The meeting was a
success in that: (1) the Palestinians received pressure from
the international community to maintain security in their
territory, and (2) the Palestinians received support from the
international community to continue reform efforts.

//HAMAS//


6. (C) Mora Benavente told Poloff that Hamas would not be
removed from the terrorist finance list any time soon, but he
said that EU member states may be obliged to work with Hamas
in the future when they start winning local municipal
elections. The EU and Spain have many development projects
in Palestine, including several "sister city" relationships.
Additionally, he added that because Hamas is the second
largest political party in Palestine, the peace process would
better be served if Hamas is pushed towards being more
political and democratic and away from violence.
//LEBANON / HIZBALLAH//


7. (C) The GOS supports full implementation of UNSCR 1559
forcing Syrian troops to leave Lebanon, but Spain's position
remains the same on opposing Hizballah's designation as a
terrorist organization. Mora Benavente explained to Poloff
that there are three elements to Spain's current policy
towards Hizballah: (1) Spain would like to see hard
evidence of Hizballah's support of terrorist activities in
Palestine; (2) Spain does not want to upset the current
Middle East Peace Process by designating Hizballah as a
terrorist organization if the Palestinians under Abu Mazen do
not support such a designation; and (3) Hizballah is a key
player in the Lebanese political process and alienating
Hizballah will alienate 40 percent of Lebanon's population
(Ref C).

//SUDAN//


8. (C) Mora Benavente said that there would be no new
actions on Sudan at the February 16 GAERC meeting. The EU is
asking that the Commission of Inquiry conclusions be dealt
with by the International Criminal Court. He said that he
expects an omnibus UNSC resolution concerning Sudan in April.

//RUSSIA / MOLDOVA//


9. (C) The EU supports the preliminary conclusions of the
International Election Observation Mission in Moldova that
states the elections were generally fair, although the EU
regrets the fact that opposition candidates did not have
equal access to the media. The EU is ready to cooperate with
the forces entering Parliament and will continue to push for
the development of democracy and modernization in Moldova.
The EU will also push for new negotiations on the status of
Transnistria.

//RUSSIA / GEORGIA//


10. (C) Mora Benavente told Poloff that the EU is currently
considering three options for a Border Monitoring
Organization (BMO) in Georgia, including: (1) Reinforcing
the office of the EU Special Representative to the South
Caucasus Heikki Talvitie; (2) Training Georgian officials to
patrol the border; and (3) Having an EU mission at the border
that would be a European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)
mission. He said that there was widespread consensus in the
EU for the first two options, but there was no consensus on
the third option. He said that the Baltic States, Slovakia,
and Sweden were all pushing the third option, but he said the
proposal did not have strong support among other EU members.
Mora Benavente told Poloff that the international community
now has a six-week window to try to resolve the Georgian BMO
problem because poor weather in the mountainous border region
will prevent action during that time (Ref D).



MANZANARES